Means for connecting the ends of railway-rails.



W. FLANAGAN. MEANS FOR CONNECTING -I'HE ENDS 0F RAILWAY RMLS.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT-24' 19l5- Patented June 12, 1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l- W. FLANAGAN. MEANS FOR CONNECTING THE ENDS 0F RAILWAY RAILS.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT-24. 1915.

Patented June 12, 1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

jig. 31

WILLIAM FLANAGAN, 0F RICHEY, MISSISSIPPI, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO HENRIETTA A. MOORE, 0F MORTON, MISSISSIPPI. v

MEANS FOR OONNECTIN G THE ENDS OF RAILWAY-RAILS.

Application filed September 24, 1915.

@719 all whom it in concern;

Be it known that I, VILLIAM FLANAGAN, a

citizen of the United States, residing at llichey, in the county of Sharkey and State of Mississippi, have invented new and usefnl improvements in Means for Connecting the Ends of Railway-Rails, of which the following is a specification- The present invention relates to lll'llJl'OVG- ments in means for connecting rail ends, and is particularly directed to means for securing the ends of a broken ail, and one of the objects of the invention is to provlde a device of this character which may be easily and quickly positioned upon the rails without necessitating .the longitudinal spreading of the rails and the consequent loosening or removal of the spikes, or in any way interfering with the rails when the same are spiked to the ties.

Another object of the invention is to improve the existing art by producing a device of this character which shall be simple in construction, cheap to manufacture, easily and quickly applied and which will perform its function with efficiency and with not require the service of a skilled artisan.

With the above and other objects in view, the improvement resides in the construction, combination and arrangement of parts set forth in the following specification and falling Within the scope of the appended claim.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a top plan view illustrating the broken ends of a rail connected in accordance with the present invention,

Fig. 2 is a transverse section 1. view on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2,

Specification of Letters Patent.

accuracy, and furthermore which will Patented June 112, i917. Serial No. 52,481.

therefore comprises a comparatively small and light article, so that a number. of the devices may be arranged upon a hand orrepair car or as a matter of fact may be carried by a track walker without inconvenience. The device, however, embodies the desired amount of strength for the purpose 'or which it is intended, and the same com prises .1 horizontally straight base 2 which has one of its edges integrally formed with an lI1\ ardly extending angular flange 3, the said flange terminating in a vertical plate 4. The longitudinal edge of the device, at the juncture of the base 2 and the flange 3 is preferably concaved, for the sake of lightness, and this portion may, if desired, be provided with notches 2 through which may pass retaining spikes when it is necessary to position the device upon a tie 12. The base 2 from the inner wall provided by the vertical portion of the overlying flange 3 may be channeled or otherwise reduced to provide the said base with a thickened por tion 2", the inner edge of the same formin a vertically disposed longitudinal shoulder 2. The width of said reduced depressed portion equals the width of the base" flanges of the rails 1. The thickened portion 2' terminates in the vertical plate (3 formed upon the edge 5 of the base opposite that provided with the flange 3 and plate 4. The outer and lower corner of the portion 5 is preferably concaved, and the same may be provided with spaced notches to receive spikes, should it be further necessary to arrange the chair member upon one or more of the ties 12. The vertical plate (3 upon its outer face is provided with spaced bosses 7, and formed integral with the lower edges of the bosses and extending therefrom to the lower edge or side 5 of the chair are ribs 8. The bosses are provided with threaded openings 9 which register with similar threaded openings in the plate (3 for a purpose which will presently be described. It should be stated that if desired the plate 4 of the flange 3 may be connected by reinforcing ribs.

The plates 4 and (3 are spaced away from each other a distance equaling or slightly exceeding the width of the base flangesof the rails, so it will be noted that when the chair is-to be arranged upon the broken ends of a rail, the same is first positioned below the said rail and brought vertically thereof until the rail base contacts with thehorizontal floor provided by the thickened portion 2 of the base of the chair. The chair member'is then moved laterally until the base of the rail is received within the channel or depressed portion of the said chair and one of the sides, preferably the inner side of the rail is engaged by the inner walls of the angle flange 3 and the vertical plate -t, the upper edge of the said plate contacting with the underface of the head of the rail, and preferably the said plate 4 is provided upon its upper and lower edges with longitudinallyextending beads which-provide the rail web engaging or contacting members for the said plate 4. When the chair is thus positioned a filler or splice block 10 is passed longitudinally between the fishing space upon the outer side of the rail and the plate 6 of the chair. This block 10 is of a length corresponding with the length of the chair. The block has its horizontal faces beveled or inclined from one of 'its vertical faces to its opposite vertical face so that the said horizontal portions will agree with the angular upper face of the base flange of the rail as well as with the angular underface of the head of the rail and so be snugly received within the fishing spaces of the said rail. The inner and narrower face of the block at the longitudinal corners thereof is preferably formed with ribs which contact with the web of the rail, and the outer and widened face of the block is provided with spaced depressions '11 corresponding in number and registering with the threaded openings t) when the block is positioned upon the rails and chair.

Passing through the threaded openings are the shanks 13 of headed threaded elements 14, the outer ends of the shanks being preferably rounded so as to be snugly re ceived within depressions-l1 in'the outer or wider face of the i-nembers l0, and also arranged upon the threaded members and contacting with the bosses 7 of the plates 6 are lock nuts 15.

From the above description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, it will be noted that my device is simple in construction, can be easily and quickly applied for connecting the broken ends of a rail or may be successfully employed for securing the meeting ends of two rails, and the advantages of the construction well as the manner of attaching the same to the rails will, it is thought, be perfectly apparent to those skilled in the art to which such invention appertains without further detailed description.

Having thus described the invention, What I claim is: s

In a device for the purpose set forth, a chair member including a base having spaced sides, one of the said sides bein vertically straight and the other being shaped to conform to the shape of the side of a rail, and the base, from the last mentioned side being channeled longitudinally to re ceive the base of the rail and the elevated portion of the chair base being beveled. flush with the upper surface of the base flange of the rail, a splice block disposed be tween the said straight side of the chair and the side of the rail adjacent thereto, said splice block having its upper and lower faces beveled from its outer face inwardly to its inner face, the beveled surfaces being .of a substantially similar pitch, whereby either of said surfaces, may be brought to engage with the underface of the head of the rail or the base flange of the rail and the beveled surface upon the base of the chair member, the outer and Wider face of the splice block having spaced depressions, and bolt members passing through threaded openings in the straight side of the rail chair and having their ends received Within the said depressions.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

\VILLIAM FLANAGANQ Witnesses:

S. A. Baown, G120. F. OAKMAN. 

